Chapter 12

Professor Kasprovicz from Lemberg, who followed, declared in the name of the Poles:

"We are united with you not only by blood affinity, but by our united will, and we can reach the goal only by co-operation and by joint efforts.

"This co-operation is perplexing to our enemies who, therefore, do all in their power to disrupt this union. Their endeavours are in vain. _All of us believe that neither the Czech nor the Polish nation will perish_, that even a great war cannot bring about their extirpation; that besides the war there is something greater than all human efforts, that the day of justice will also come, and that the _Czech and Polish nations not only must be but already are victorious_."

A tremendous applause ensued, and the people sang "Jeszcie Polska niezgynela" ("Poland has not perished yet"). And when the chairman announced that the next speaker was to be the Italian Irredentist deputy, Signer Conci, another storm of applause and cries of "Eviva!" burst out. Signor Conci declared:

"I convey to you the expression of the heartiest greetings from all Italians who are participating in this brilliant manifestation, and from all those who, like myself, follow with great sympathy everything that concerns the fate of the noble Czech nation.

"An old verse speaks about 'Socii dolorum' ('Friends in suffering'), and I must say that this consolation for the different nations of this state has been amply provided for. _But nothing helps the union and brotherhood better than the common misfortune and common persecutions_ which strengthen the character of the nation. In defence against this menace, we and you have written on our shield: 'Fanger, non flector' ('I can be broken but not bent').

"When I saw with what indomitable firmness you withstood all unjust persecutions, and with what a fervent devotion and enthusiasm the whole nation supported your best and unjustly persecuted leaders, I realised that _this nation cannot die_, and that when the time comes its just cause will triumph. And I bring you our sincere wish that this may be as soon as possible. _It is a wish from one oppressed nation to another_, from a representative of an afflicted nation which has suffered and still is suffering intolerable oppression. May the roaring Bohemian lion soon be able to repose in peace and fully enjoy his own triumph."

Dr. Tavcar, representing the Slovenes, declared:

"We Yugoslavs are deeply feeling how much the Czech culture is helping us and how great is its influence upon us. _We are the most faithful allies of our brother Czechs_, and at the same time their assiduous and I dare say very gifted pupils. At a moment when our oppressors want to build a German bridge over our bodies to the Slav Adriatic, we come to you as your allies. We shall fall if you fall, but our victory is certain."

Two other Yugoslav leaders, Dr. Srpulje, Mayor of Zagreb, for the Croats, and V. Sola, President of the Bosnian Sabor, for the Serbs, expressed the same sentiments.

After the speech of the Czech author Krejci, M. Stanek, President of the Bohemian Parliamentary Union, concluded the meeting.

Stormy demonstrations then took place in the streets of Prague, where the people loudly cheered Professor Masaryk and the Entente.

On the same day also the Socialists had a meeting in which prominent Czech, Polish and Yugoslav Socialists took part.

The Polish Socialist deputy Moraczewski, from Cracow, declared that "the Poles, like the Czechs, are fighting for self-determination of nations." Comrade Kristan, speaking for the Slovene workers, emphasised the idea of Yugoslav unity. The spokesman of the Social Democrats from Bosnia, comrade Smitran, hailed the Czecho-Yugoslav understanding, and said that, although living under intolerable conditions, his nation hopes for deliverance, and like the Czecho-Slovak nation, demands liberty and independence. After the Polish comrade Stanczyk, the leaders of the two Czech Socialist parties, Dr. Soukup and Klofac, delivered long speeches in which they emphasised the solidarity of the three Western Slav nations, the Poles, Czecho-Slovaks and Yugoslavs, and their identical claims for liberty and independence. Dr. Soukup declared that "Socialism is to-day a great factor not only in Bohemia, but in the whole world." The manifestation was concluded by the Czech Socialist deputy Nemec, and by the singing of the Czech national anthem.

On the day following, fresh manifestations were held in Prague, and a meeting was arranged, described by the Czech press as the Congress of Oppressed Nations of Austria-Hungary. Among those who supported the resolutions were representatives of Czecho-Slovaks, Yugoslavs, Rumanians and Italians, as well as Poles. The resolution carried unanimously by the assembly reads as follows:

"The representatives of Slav and Latin nations who for centuries past have been suffering under foreign oppression, assembled in Prague this seventeenth day of May, 1918, have united in a common desire to do all in their power in order to assure full liberty and independence to their respective nations after this terrible war. They are agreed that a better future for their nations will be founded and assured by the world democracy, by a real and sovereign national people's government, and by a universal League of Nations, endowed with the necessary authorities.

"They reject emphatically all steps of the government taken without the consent of the people. They are convinced that the peace which they, together with all other democratic parties and nations, are striving for, will only be a just and lasting peace if it liberates the world from the predominance of one nation over another and thus enables all nations to defend themselves against aggressive imperialism by means of liberty and equality of nations. All nations represented are determined to help each other, since the victory of one is also the victory of the other, and is not only in the interests of the nations concerned, but in the interests of civilisation, of fraternity and equality of nations, as well as of true humanity."

IX

BOHEMIA AS A BULWARK AGAINST PAN-GERMANISM

From the foregoing chapters it is clear that:

_(a)_ The Austro-Hungarian Government represents only the Habsburgs, and the Austrian Germans and the Magyars, who form a minority of the total population of the monarchy. The majority, consisting of Slavs and Latins, is opposed to the further existence of Austria-Hungary.

_(b)_ The Austrian Germans and Magyars, who exercised their hegemony in Austria and Hungary respectively, will always be bound to look to Germany for the support of their predominance as long as Austria-Hungary in whatever form exists. The collapse of the Habsburg Empire in October, 1918, practically put an end to this possibility.

_(c)_ The Habsburgs, Austro-Germans and Magyars, just like the Bulgars, became the willing and wilful partners of Prussia in this war, while the Austrian Slavs, especially the Czecho-Slovaks, have done all in their power to assist the Allies at the price of tremendous sacrifices. Under these circumstances, the only possible policy for the Allies is to support the claims of those peoples who are heart and soul with them. Any policy which would not satisfy the just Slav aspirations would play into the hands of Germany.

_(d)_ The restoration of the _status quo ante bellum_ of Austria or Hungary is out of the question. The Allies have pledged themselves to unite the Italian and Rumanian territories of Austria with Italy and Rumania respectively. The aim of Serbia is to unite all the Yugoslavs. Deprived of her Italian, Rumanian and Yugoslav provinces, Austria-Hungary would lose some twelve million Slavs and Latins. The problem of Poland also cannot be solved in a satisfactory way without the incorporation in Poland of the Polish territories of Galicia. If the _status quo_ were re-established, the Czecho-Slovaks, whom Great Britain has recognised as an Allied nation, would be placed in a decisive minority and would be powerless in face of the German-Magyar majority. This the Allies in their own interests cannot allow. They must insist upon the restoration of Bohemia's full independence.

_(e)_ The disappearance of Austria-Hungary therefore appears to be the only solution if a permanent peace in Europe is to be achieved. Moreover, as we have already pointed out, her dissolution is a political necessity for Europe, and is to-day already an accomplished fact.

The dismemberment of Austria does not mean a destructive policy. On the contrary, it means only the destruction of oppression and racial tyranny. It is fundamentally different from the dismemberment of Poland, which was a living nation, while Austria is not. The dismemberment of Austria will, on the contrary, unite nations at present dismembered, and will reconstruct Europe so as to prevent further German aggressive attempts towards the East and South-East. A close alliance between Poland, Czecho-Slovak Bohemia, Greater Rumania, Greater Serbia (or Yugoslavia) and Italy would assure a stable peace in Central Europe.

The issue really at stake was: Central Europe either Pan-German or anti-German. If Germany succeeded in preserving Austria-Hungary, the Pan-German plans of Mitteleuropa would be a _fait accompli_, and Germany would have won the war: the Germans would, with the aid of the Magyars and Bulgars, directly and indirectly control and exploit over one hundred million Slavs in Central Europe. On the other hand, now that Austria has fallen to pieces the German plans have been frustrated. The Germans will not only be unable to use the Austrian Slavs again as cannon-fodder, but even the economic exploitation of Central Europe will be barred to them.

From the international point of view, Bohemia will form the very centre of the anti-German barrier, and with the assistance of a new Poland in the north, and Italy, Yugoslavia and Rumania in the south, she will successfully prevent German penetration to the East, Near East and the Adriatic.

Austria and Hungary, reduced to their proper racial boundaries, will be states of about eight million each. The Magyars, being situated in the Lowlands, which are mainly agricultural, hemmed in between Bohemia, Rumania and Yugoslavia, will be in a hopeless strategic and economic position. They will be unable to attack any of their neighbours, and they will be wholly dependent on them for industrial products. Hungary will thus be forced to come to an understanding with her neighbours. Austria will be in a similar position: deprived of her richest provinces, she will no longer be of any great economic or military value to Germany.

Let us now examine the probable future relations between Bohemia and her neighbours.

1. The formation of a strong _Polish-Czech block_ is the only means of arresting the German expansion towards the East. To-day, when Russia has collapsed, the liberation of the non-Germans of Central Europe can alone save Europe from the hegemony of the German Herrenvolk. The creation of a strong and united Poland with access to the sea at Gdansk (Dantzig) and an independent Czecho-Slovak State has become a necessity for Europe.

The understanding between the Poles and Czechs is of vital interest to both peoples concerned, and to Europe as a whole. It is by no means hypothetical, considering that geographically the Poles and Czechs are neighbours, that they speak almost the same language, and that their national spirit, history and traditions bear a close resemblance. The history of Poland offers many strange parallels to that of Bohemia. It is specially interesting to note that in the fifteenth century, as to-day, the Poles and Czechs together resisted the German "Drang nach Osten." The Czech with their famous leader Zizka participated in the splendid Polish victory over the Teutonic knights at Gruenwald in 1410, while on the other hand, there were many Poles in the Hussite regiments who so gloriously defended the Czech religious and national liberties in the fifteenth century. Poland and Bohemia were also united several times under a common dynasty.

After Bohemia lost her independence at the battle of the White Mountain in 1620, she became the prey of Austrian barbarity. The Habsburgs have done their best to extirpate the Czech heretics and abolish and destroy the Bohemian Constitution. With Bohemia's loss of independence her contact with Poland also ceased. And Poland herself became the prey of Prussia, Russia and Austria some 170 years later, notwithstanding the constitution of May 3 and the heroic resistance of Kosciuszko.

The regeneration of the Czechs at the end of the eighteenth century meant the resumption of friendly relations between Czechs and Poles. The Czechs desired to come to an agreement with the Poles because the latter are their nearest kinsmen in race and language, and like themselves have suffered terribly from alien oppression. There were many Polonophils amongst the first Czech regenerators, and the Polish revolutions always evoked sincere sympathy in Bohemia. The modern Czech writers were all sincere friends of the Poles. Thanks to their efforts, Sienkiewicz and Mickiewicz are read in every household in Bohemia, and the dramas of Slowacki, Krasinski, Wyspianski and others are frequently played on the stage of our National Theatre in Prague.

The present interests and aspirations of Poles and Czechs are identical. Like the Czechs, the Poles are threatened by the Pan-German schemes of Mitteleuropa and "Drang nach Osten," to which they are bitterly opposed. These plans can be checked effectively only by the establishment of a strong and united Poland with access to the sea, a strong Czecho-Slovak State, and a united and independent Yugoslavia and Rumania.

It was proved by events that Russian imperialism and oppression was never so dangerous to Europe as Pan-Germanism, since the former was built upon sand and opposed by the Russian people themselves; while Pan-Germanism rests upon effective organisation, and its brutal principles of domination are supported by the bulk of the German people. The Central Powers are to-day Poland's only enemies, and are a danger to her as to all Europe. Poland's interests lie only in one orientation: in absolute opposition to Pan-Germany.

The alliance between Poland and Bohemia will provide the latter with an outlet to the sea (Gdansk). This will draw the two countries still closer together. Economically such an alliance would be to the mutual interests of both countries. Since Bohemia has not, like Poland, been devastated during this war, she could greatly assist Poland in rebuilding her trade and industries, and this would prevent German economic penetration to the East. On the other hand, Poland could supply her with oil and salt from Galicia.

The Czecho-Polish block would prevent German penetration in Russia, which would thus be able to set her own affairs in order. The Czecho-Polish block would also frustrate the German plans of creating a Polish-German-Magyar combination by means of a small Poland, completely dependent on the Central Powers, or by means of the so-called Austro-Polish solution. The Czecho-Slovaks, owing to their geographic position and past traditions, and owing to their advanced civilisation, may be fully relied upon as the pioneers of peace and stability in Central Europe.

2. The Czecho-Slovak State will probably have a common frontier with _Rumania_. The Rumanians-and Czecho-Slovaks will have common interests, and their mutual political and economic relations will be of great importance. Economically, agricultural Rumania and industrial Bohemia will complete each other. Prague will have direct railway connection with Bukarest and Jassy, while the Danube will connect the Czecho-Slovaks both with the Yugoslavs and the Rumanians, under the protection of the League of Nations.

Politically the alliance between a united Poland, Bohemia and Greater Rumania is of paramount importance, because if Poland and Rumania remain as small as they are at present, and if the Czecho-Slovaks and Yugoslavs are left at the mercy of Vienna and Budapest, the Germans will be masters of Central Europe.

3. The relations between _Czechs and Yugoslavs_ have always been cordial, since both of them have always had the same anti-German and anti-Magyar orientation. By way of the Danube the Czecho-Slovaks would be in direct communication with Belgrade. The Czechs could further also be accorded an international railway connecting Pressburg with the Adriatic. The Czechs, being well developed industrially and commercially, could greatly assist the Yugoslavs in organising a state sufficiently strong to arrest German and Magyar penetration in the Balkans.

The Czechs, being good friends of the Yugoslavs and Italians, will at the same time exert their efforts to prevent all misunderstandings between these two Adriatic nations from which only the Germans would profit. A close alliance between Bohemia, Italy, Yugoslavia and Rumania will form an effective safeguard against German penetration in the Near East. Since Rumania will border both on Bohemia and Yugoslavia, the Germans will be completely encircled by a strong Latin-Slav barrier, of which Bohemia will form the centre, working for stability in Central Europe and safeguarding Europe from a repetition of the German attempts at world domination.

4. The Czecho-Slovak State itself will be strong both strategically and economically. It will number over twelve million, and its territory, comprising Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian-Silesia and Slovakia, will be about 50,000 square miles, that is a territory as large as England (without Scotland, Ireland and Wales).

Surrounded by high mountains, Bohemia forms a veritable fortress in the heart of Europe. Economically, too, she will be strong and self-supporting.

In the past Bohemia was the richest part of the Habsburg Empire, with well-developed agriculture and industries. Bohemia produced 829 lbs. of grain per inhabitant, the rest of Austria 277 lbs. The Bohemian lands are responsible for 93 per cent. of Austria's, production of sugar, most of which has been exported to England. Hops of remarkable quality are produced in Bohemia, and Pilsen beer is known all over the world. Bohemia manufactures over 50 per cent. of all the beer produced in Austria. Bohemia has also abundant wealth in minerals, the only mineral which is not found there being salt. Bohemia produces 60 per cent. of Austria's iron and 83 per cent. (26 million tons) of her coal. As regards trade, almost all the business between Bohemia and Western Europe has always passed through Vienna, which of course greatly profited thereby. This will cease when Bohemia becomes independent.

Two-thirds of the total Austrian exports, the value of which was over L63,000,000 in 1912, come from the Bohemian lands. To England alone Austria exported L9,000,000 worth of Bohemian sugar annually. Bohemian beer, malt and hops were exported especially to France, textiles and machines to Italy. On the other hand, Germany and German-Austria imported from the Bohemian lands especially agricultural products (butter, eggs, cheese, cereals, fruit), also coal and wood manufactures.

In 1905 Austria exported 425,000 metric tons of wheat and 186,000 metric tons of malt, which were mostly produced in Bohemia. The export of Bohemian beer brings Austria 15,000,000 kronen annually (L625,000), of malt 55,000,000 kronen (L2,290,000). The Bohemian lands further export 130,000,000 kronen (L5,430,000) worth of textiles annually.

The Austrian import trade is also largely dependent on Bohemia. All French articles bought by Bohemia come through Vienna, two-thirds of the whole French export being destined for that country.

As regards England, in 1914 L2,676,000 worth of goods were exported to Austria-Hungary, the greater part of which again was destined for Bohemia, the chief articles being printing and agricultural machines and textile manufactures. England will after the war find a good market in Bohemia, and valuable assistants in Czech banks and business men in the economic competition against the Germans in the Near East, since the Czechs boycotted German goods even before the war. Prague is a railway centre of European importance, being situated just midway between the Adriatic and the Baltic Sea. An agreement with her neighbours (Poland, Yugoslavia and Rumania) and the League of Nations arrangement would secure her an outlet to the sea by means of international railways, while the Elbe and Danube would also form important trade routes. Bohemia would become an intermediary between the Baltic and Adriatic as well as between East and West.

Also the future relations of Bohemia with the British colonies are not without importance. More than half the trade of Austria with the British colonies was transacted by the Czechs, and Austria-Hungary exported to British colonies L3,500,000 and imported from them L10,500,000 worth of goods annually.

5. One of the most important reasons why the Czecho-Slovaks, when independent, will be able to render such valuable services to the Allies, is the high degree of their civilisation. Despite all efforts of the Austrian Government to the contrary, the Czechs have nevertheless been able to attain a high standard of education, and they also excel in literature, music and the arts.

The Czechs are not only the most advanced of all Slavs, but they are even the most advanced of all nations of Austria-Hungary. In Austria as a whole 6.7 per cent. of the children do not attend school; in Bohemia only 1-1/2 per cent. The standard of education of the Czechs compares with that of the Austrian-Germans and Magyars, according to the _Monatschrift fuer Statistik_ of 1913, as follows:

Czechs. Austrian Magyars. Germans. Persons knowing how to write and read 95-1/2% 92% 40% Persons knowing how to read only 3% 1% 4% Illiterates 1-1/2% 7% 56%

The Czechs have accomplished this by their own efforts, as is shown by the fact that 151 Czech schools are kept up by a private Czech society. These 151 schools have altogether 287 classes and 522 teachers, and are attended by more than 15,000 children. The unjust treatment of the Czechs in regard to schools is further shown by the fact that 9,000,000 Germans in Austria had five universities, 5,000,000 Poles two universities, while 7,000,000 Czechs had only one. The German University in Prague had 878 students in 1912, the Czech University 4713. The Germans in Prague number some 10,000 (_i.e._ 1-1/2 per cent.), yet they have their public schools and even a university; while the Czechs in Vienna, numbering at least some 300,000 (_i.e._ over 15 per cent.), are deprived even of elementary schools, to say nothing of secondary schools and universities.